Talk of the Town
by Kovva
Summary: Danny and Sam are spotted flying to school...only to become front page news! Wait, gossip is a better word. How will they deal with the unwanted attention and consequences, and most of all, what's Paulina got to do with the fiasco? Slight DxS stuff...?x?
1. Fateful Flight

_uggg...my first fanfiction isn't finished, yet i'm starting another one...i'm really stuck, sorry. so late at night i typed about 7 pages of this because i had an idea and i was hyper. i'll upload them at about three pages at a time, more carefully edited. i have chapter two ready...i'll post it next week. _

_i always wondered what people would say if this happened..._

* * *

The girl hurriedly packed up the last of her things for school in her darkly decorated room, unaware she was being watched by a ghost.

Raven hair flopped over unusual purple eyes as Samantha Manson ducked down beneath her bed in search of her favorite pen. "Grr..." she growled on hands and knees, wondering where she could have dropped it. A few more minutes and she'd be forced to leave for school to avoid a tardy.

The ghost just outside her open window did not seem malevolent. In fact, he looked just like a white-haired, neon green-eyed teenager in a bold black-and-white superhero costume, standing in mid-air. He was smiling slightly as he watched her fruitless search.

"Yo, Sam! Taxi's here!" He called out cheerfully.

Sam whirled around, her heart pounding. She looked shocked, then confused, then happy all in the space of a moment. "Danny! Geez! What if my parents barged in? What if I was changing?" She yelled.

The ghost called Danny looked very taken aback.

"Like I change near an open window, silly. Now," she said, more calmly, "what was that about a taxi?"

"I just decided we should take to the air today. We haven't done that...since the Ember thing. Shall we?"

Sam got to her feet. "I'd be delighted. We'll be early today if we fly. Let's go! Stupid pen, I'll just take one of yours. Let my parents think I jumped out the window."

"Don't be morbid!" Danny said, taking her hand.

She jumped up on the windowsill with near-perfect grace, considering she had combat boots on. And a short skirt.

"Backpacks – check. And go!"

And they leaped from the window, with nothing below them, and only Danny's hand to prevent her from dropping to the ground. At first, Sam thought she was doing just that as they plummeted. But he had just decided to do a "steep glide", as he put it, to start off. He dipped and soared up high between buildings in a stomach-turning curve. Now back at normal cruising altitude for Danny, just above the buildings, Sam found herself clutching Danny's hand with both of hers for dear life and panting in fear. Maybe fear wasn't the word. Perhaps exhilaration, or excitement. She trusted Danny and knew she wouldn't fall.

"Wow," Sam said dizzily, feeling lightheaded. "Let's do that again...tomorrow," she amended as Danny prepared to repeat the roller-coaster ride.

She took a deep breath and spread both arms out wide, now needing only her right hand in Danny's hand to stay airborne. She could see the school now, and Tucker, their friend, below, oblivious to the two, hundreds of feet above his head.

Danny glanced sideways at her and smiled. Ghost powers were terrific for all the cool things he could do with them. On the other side, he was pretty much obligated to use them for good – fighting the evil ghosts that popped up so often in his city of Amity Park. That usually was the hardest thing about this. But sometimes, his secret was so hard to keep.

He soared gently with Sam through the air and landed behind a tree. Making sure no one was watching, he let himself transform into a human. As he did so, he marveled at how far he'd gotten with no one knowing he was half-ghost. The ghost who had just flown with Sam was called Danny Phantom, and the black-haired, blue-eyed human he now became was Danny Fenton. Of course, no one believed it was possible to be half-ghost. No one ever dreamed getting zapped by a strange piece of ghost equipment could do that to a person.

Tucker knew, Danny's sister Jazz knew, and of course Sam knew. His friends, and his brainiac sister. But not his parents, or any other full humans. It was a good system.

He was still holding her hand. He ran towards the school, suddenly buoyant and energized, pulling her along.

Sam couldn't help laughing. "Never have I seen you so eager to learn, Danny!"

"It's a good day today. I'm in a good mood. Flying with you helps." Danny smiled a breathtakingly beautiful smile at her. She blushed slightly.

Tucker rushed in behind them, and all three arrived at Danny's locker to chat. All too soon the bell rang for first period, and they left together.

Heaven was truly smiling on him today; no one reminded him of his low position on the social ladder, and a B+ on his math quiz concluded his perfect day. (He'd never been good at math.) He walked home with Sam and Tucker, as usual. He didn't fly them home – though he had thought about it. Flying was strictly a thing between him and Sam. As if they had a silent vow, neither mentioned that morning's method of transportation, though Tucker did ask where they'd been.

"I...was looking for my pen."

"I had to fly because I thought w—I might be late."

Tucker raised an eyebrow at both of them. He was actually a sensitive guy, though something about his techie style seemed to deny it. Something was up, but he didn't ask. He knew they had something going. He smiled inwardly.

Arriving home, Danny found his parents and sister glued to the television.

"Anything on...?" Danny asked casually. When he got no answer, he watched too.

Of course, it was something about ghosts. His parents were manic ghost freaks and kept inventing gadgets to capture and study them, but never seemed to. He hoped they'd never find out his secret. Danny Phantom was actually at the top of their hit list to "dissect molecule by molecule".

"...infamous town ghost Danny Phantom was spotted this morning at about 7:53 am flying about town with a _girl_!" the newscaster announced gleefully. "We have film of it too!"

_Oh, no._

A slightly blurry video appeared on-screen, it showed them just coming up from a steep dive, with Sam clutching Danny's hands tightly and saying something the camera didn't pick up. It followed him until they were too far away.

Danny could only stare and wait with bated breath.

"Notice," the newscaster said excitedly, displaying shiny white teeth, "the girl!" A still image from the film, zoomed in on Sam's face. "She's not a ghost at all! And we were hoping he got a ghostly girlfriend." He laughed.

Danny couldn't blink now.

"She has been identified as Samantha Manson, age 14. One may wonder what the two were doing, as they both have backpacks on their backs. Going to school? Here we have Mr. Lancer, assistant principal of Casper High, where Samantha goes to school! Mr. Lancer, was Samantha at school today?"

Mr. Lancer looked to be in shock. "Yes, Sam was at school today..." he said slowly, and the camera cut swiftly back to the grinning newscaster.

"There you have it! We'll try to interview young Samantha next! Stay tuned for the news again at six!"


	2. Panic Attack

_You guys are great! And the stats are amazing. You guys have pretty much proved how crappy my first fanfic is :D Already this has the same number of favorites, more reviews per chapter, and only one less alert than my first fanfic, which will not be named here because it's too crappy. You can look at the comic version, if I ever finish it, some day._

_Thank you, my beloved reviewers on chapter 1! FantomoDrako, Morbid Ice Princess, Phantom-figure, XxXAmethyst TearsXxX, cordria, magpie8spook, Plushiemon, CharmedNightSkye, The Midnight Phantomess, and ghostanimal_

_But now, chapter two!_

* * *

The whole family slowly unfroze. His mother stretched her limbs and noticed Danny there, looking dazed. "Hi, sweetie! I didn't know your friend Sam had connections to that ghost boy!" She lowered her voice. "Ask her where he lives so we can hunt him down!"

Danny didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The irony of it was too much. He lived right here, the guilty ghost boy. "Mom! Be nice. Sam's friends are my friends too." _Yep, Me, Myself, and I._

"But he's a _ghost_!"

"Yeah," his father cut in. "We need a ghost to slice up! I want to try out our new invention!" he said gleefully. "It cuts – well, it's supposed to cut – a ghost into perfect square pieces so you can..."

Danny did _not_ want to hear the rest of that sentence. Fancy your own parents talking about how to slice-and-dice you. Danny felt too miserable to argue and climbed the stairs to his room. Ghost prejudice...sure, most of them were bad but you had to give them a chance, at least...

It had been a perfect Friday, but now he wasn't sure if it was anymore.

He decided to risk his afterlife and flew out to Sam's window for the second time that day.

But this time, he peeked around the edge first, to make sure she didn't really change with an open window. Safe. She was sitting on her bed, reading a book. She looked up, just as Danny looked behind him and noticed people raising cameras to their eyes. He darted inside the safety of her room, then proceeded to shut the window and lower all the blinds.

"What's going on?" Sam said in alarm.

"They saw us!" Danny said, turning human, forcing the transformation to go faster if it could. "They saw us flying this morning, it was on the news and everything!"

"Don't they have anything other than celebrity gossip?" frowned Sam. She flipped on the TV. She patted the bed beside her and Danny sat, and they surfed channels. Nothing right now. Danny was surprised.

"They said more at six," he said. "People will be swarming any moment now." He looked around nervously.

"Tell me what you saw." She said as she glanced sideways at him.

He didn't need to. Her angry parents and a giggling grandma barged into her room right at that moment.

Her grandma giggled mischievously and merely said, "Good one, bubeleh!"

But her parents trumpeted every last detail of the news report at her until she and Danny hugged the wall, intimidated. They didn't even wonder how Danny got into her room.

Sam advanced now. "No, it won't happen again! I'm not hurt at all! And if you want to know the truth, I enjoyed it!" she shouted defiantly.

Her parents looked at each other, and her grandma winked before leaving. When the hallway was clear, Sam sighed and lay down with a _whump_ on the bed.

"I'm sorry, Danny. I wish we could do it again."

Danny drew his knees up below his chin. "We could...we'd just have to be invisible the whole time," he said, not really feeling like it was a likely idea.

"I promised them I wouldn't," Sam said sadly.

"Okay," Danny said softly.

A period of silence, then Sam's phone rang. She picked it up. "Hey, Tuck." She gained an annoyed expression.

"Yes...I know. I know! ...Yeah. I wonder who took the video anyway. ...Mikey? No way! ...YOUTUBE?!" Sam screamed. "Now that's going too far!"

"Haha, I think a TV spot is already going too far, Sam," Tucker said on the other end. He leaned back in his chair.

"What's the big deal, anyway?" Sam mumbled. "So what. A ghost, and me. Big deal."

"Danny's a celebrity now, Sam...pretty much, yes. Paulina is a great example. She'll be ready to scratch your eyes out come Monday. Mmhmm. Stay inside. Girls will be jealous, but most will just wonder if you're the ghost boy's new human girlfriend."

Tucker smirked. Ironic. Maybe Danny and Sam's unspoken love for each other would be revealed somehow in this fiasco.

"It's all my fault, Sam," Danny muttered.

"Nonsense, I don't regret flying with you at all. I'm going to kill Mikey though." Sam said to Danny.

"Reporters come yet?" Tucker asked.

"No, and they better not—" Sam threatened.

The doorbell began to sound. Danny and Sam could hear Sam's mom shouting "I'll get it!" and the clamor of voices.

"Perfect timing!" Sam moaned.

Danny instantly transformed, scooped up Sam, and hung up the phone. "We're outta here." He yanked up the shades and the window one-handed. This time, as he pushed off the building with his feet like a swimmer off a pool wall, he wasted no time in loops and curves and instead shot in a straight line to Tucker's house. He was the most normal of the three – in terms of media coverage, at the moment.

"Danny...isn't this just making it worse?" Sam asked from his arms, noticing a small army of people surrounding her house and filming her window, and of course their current flight. "Oh my gosh, we're doing it again. And I said I wouldn't."

He sped up, holding her tighter. "Naughty girl," he teased. She wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed her eyes shut. "Go invisible now," she pleaded.

"Oh, well, it had to be done. Here we go..." He mustered up strength and turned them both invisible, and phased through Tucker's house and into his room.

"Hi, you two," Tucker said, showing not the slightest bit of surprise at seeing them tumble through his wall and land in an awkward heap on his floor.

They got up and crowded around Tucker's computer screen. "What is that?" Danny demanded, jabbing a finger at the monitor.

"Live coverage of your house, Sam...just watched you two fly out of your window. Only a few options of where to go next and logically, I knew you'd pick my place." Tucker spun around in his chair and grinned. "This. Is. Hilarious."

"Shut up," they both said at the same time.

"All right, all right," said Tucker, suddenly serious. "My advice to you is: lie low, and walk back home the normal way. Ignore the dumb news, hopefully it will die down soon." _Though a big part of me says it won't._

Life with a half-ghost and his girlfriend-in-denial was really fun.


	3. Mixed Reactions

_Hey guys, I'm so flattered :D thanks for all your reviews and especially the long ones, they really do help! Okay for this chapter, I don't like it all that much, even though my little brother has helped me edit some of it. I promise the next chapter is much better...yeah in this one the part where it focuses on Sam is kind of dull. _

_Until next time! (cuz I always forget what I want to say here.)_

_

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_

Sam cautiously peeked out of the window and saw people milling about on the street below, armed with videocameras, unsure of where the two had gone.

"Walk home?" Sam asked incredulously. "I'm going to be mobbed!"

Tucker glared at her. "Don't get so worked up about a few people. Publicity is potential for Ultra-Recyclo-Vegetarian conversion!"

"Umm, just so you know, there are better ways to go about this!"

Danny looked from angry geek to angry goth and attempted to solve the problem. "Hey, I could...walk her home," he tried, wincing at the strange phrase, "invisibly, of course..."

Only a split second after he said that, he knew it wasn't a good idea.

"She can't hide all her life!" Tucker said, crossing his arms.

"It's...nice of you to offer but...I'll have to face it myself." Sam didn't look him in the eye; instead she stared out the window again.

The two boys craned their necks to see what she was looking at. Abruptly, she turned away from the window and made to leave. "See you guys later."

Danny watched her go wordlessly, then took off out the window, not having changed form since he came through Tucker's wall.

"No goodbye? Rude," Tucker said, annoyed.

Danny made himself comfortable hovering and following invisibly a few feet above her in the air. She got halfway to her own house without incident before a car pulled up to the curb beside her and a woman jumped out.

He knew Sam had to do this alone, so Danny, respecting her wishes, was forced to watch in silence.

"Good afternoon, Samantha!" chirped the woman cheerily as she rushed to Sam's side.

"It's Sam," she said shortly.

The bright reporter didn't care – or didn't notice – that Sam was in a dark mood.

"Sorry, uh, Sam! So, do you think you could give us – the city – an interview on your flight with the town ghost, Danny Phantom?"

Sam noticed she already had a recorder of some sort in her right hand. She gave – "Trish", reading her nametag – a hard stare that seemed to last forever.

_Remember the potential!_

Just as Trish was about to back away from the creepy girl, she suddenly blinked and her face returned to the normal devoid-of-all-hope expression of a practiced goth.

"Here's a quote. If you do quote me, quote the whole thing and don't leave anything out or add anything," Sam said carefully. "Starting here. I, Sam Manson, went of my own free will to fly with the town ghost Danny Phantom. I was not kidnapped. He offered me a quicker way to school. I enjoyed it, I don't think there's a problem with this method of transportation, and no, we are not dating. I am an ultra-recyclo-vegetarian – and proud. Stop dissecting frogs in schools, it's inhumane and disgusting. There are mechanical ones now, get with the times! End quote."

Sam assumed a bored stance and crossed her arms. "Got that? Don't bother me again." She turned on her heel, not waiting for an answer, and continued home, praying the reporter would respect her wishes.

Danny relaxed as he watched her enter her house without further interruptions from anyone. He soared away and grinned. She always had the right words to say.

At six o'clock sharp, the Fentons' TV was on again, and all four watched intently. But it wasn't much different. They showed the same video, recited Sam's quote faithfully, and added some commentary and banter. It wasn't bad. Danny and Jazz exchanged a relieved glance.

Meanwhile, at Sam's house, her phone rang.

"Hello?" she said, looking at the caller ID, which was unfamiliar.

"Hey, this is Paulina, Sam's classmate from school, could I talk to her please?"

Sam caught herself just in time before she said something sarcastic. She knew Paulina would be insanely jealous. A part of her loved it, and another part of her dreaded Monday morning, when they would be forced into a confrontation.

_Click_. Without a word, she had hung up on Paulina. She smiled briefly at the thought.

She went up the stairs to her room and surfed YouTube for the video. For something that had been uploaded only a few hours ago, it had an awful lot of favorites and even more views. Mikey must be so proud. She watched it again, just because. She realized this was about the only video of them together...flying...she stared at it, indecisive. She couldn't let this go.

She added it to her favorites, as if admitting a weakness.

The next morning's newspaper, Saturday's, merely repeated the TV's information in writing, with a nice still image off the video on the front page. In her usual morning stupor, she requested her own copy. She couldn't help but smile at the face Danny was making at that instant, frozen forever in a picture. She'd keep this forever, no matter how much she hated the hype. "I'm turning into a hopeless romantic," Sam muttered and yawned. She folded the picture carefully into her diary and began a new entry...

Danny's parents bought five copies just for the "really cool article", and jibed Danny some for "his girlfriend" being seen with the ghost boy, and, oh Danny, aren't you jealous? Danny shrugged it off, took one, read the article through, and finally just put it in his stash of Sam stuff. The picture was a good one. He'd been smiling in that picture...

Tucker laughed long and hard when his parents got the morning paper. His parents looked at him as if he were nuts. Maybe he was. Tucker went out and bought four more copies. Very nutty indeed. Whatever. Sam could kill him and he wouldn't care.

Paulina, whose claim to fame was popularity, beauty, and an obsession with the ghost boy Danny Phantom, couldn't believe it. She touched the photo – color! – of her ghost boy tenderly, murmured sweet nothings to his image, scribbled over the picture of Sam with sharpies, and knew it would all be better on Monday when she used her height on the social ladder to her advantage...

* * *

_Next time: Drama, tears, and ending on a high note._


	4. All That Stress

_This chapter, without my notes, has 953 words. Interesting.  
Thanks for bearing with the boring chapter last time. In this chapter I totally skip the whole weekend. Umm, it also gets weird but ends on a high note, like I think I said last chapter _

_my deepest appreciation to all my readers, favoriters, and reviewers! Love you all._

* * *

"It's the Sabbath. What unholy idiot could be calling?" Sam grumbled, not really meaning it, as the insistent ringing of her phone cut through the silence. She put away her diary and picked up the phone reluctantly. "Hello?" It would be Danny or Tucker, of course. It better be.

"Hello, this is Candice Evans from –"

Sam slammed down the phone and stayed inside both Saturday and Sunday, amusing herself by unplugging all the phones, sketching and painting, and tending to her plants in the greenhouse.

Monday arrived, bringing with it an uneasy feeling that seemed to hover about her like a cloud. Sam got up as late as possible, hoping no one would be shadowing her as she _walked_ to school this time with her friends.

She met her friends at her door – she was always the last stop – and happened to glance at Danny's backpack...the very same one the ghost boy had, of course.

"Danny. Will anyone see the similarity? Your backpack, Phantom's backpack?"

"Oh, um...dang."

Sam sighed. She needed to think ahead more – for other people. "Wait here." She ran to her room, got a can of spray-paint, and promptly spray-painted his whole backpack pitch-black.

"Sam!" Tucker cried.

"It's for the good of all," Sam said tiredly. "So no one recognizes the famous person's backpack."

Sure enough...

"Hey, dude! Your backpack looks just like the ghost boy's, only black! Way cool, dude!" Dash grinned, holding his hand up for a high-five.

Danny stared, then remembered to smile and half-heartedly returned the high-five, faking enthusiasm. "Yeah! Thanks!" That dumb jock was being nice because of this? His _backpack _– just because it looked like the ghost boy's – was earning him respect. He felt like something was vaguely wrong about the whole thing.

"Did you see that?" Danny said in awe to his two friends. But their eyes were elsewhere. Paulina had arrived, and she looked like a cobra ready to strike.

"The ghost boy is MINE! Back off, you goth freak!" Paulina spat at Sam. Her usually beautiful teal eyes were now hard and angry.

"For the last time, he was giving me a ride to school. Jealous much?" Sam's eyes flashed as she stepped forward to meet her opponent.

"You don't _deserve_ it!"

"What makes you think _you_ do?"

"I'm beautiful, popular, and perfect! Everything you aren't! The ghost boy _should_ like me! I'm worthy of attention!"

Stupid...ignorant...shallow...Barbie! Rage threatened to consume Sam. "You..." she hissed. She narrowed her eyes and was about to lunge at her when her friends' hands, one on each shoulder, restrained her.

Sam sniffed angrily, feeling tears of fury well up. She fought it bravely and yelled back, "You're different species! If you two ever got together it would be the _sickest_, and most _wrong thing ever_!"

Danny froze, and so did Sam, realizing what she had just said. She raised a trembling hand to her mouth. A heavy silence enfolded the hallway. Then, seemingly on cue, the crowd that had gathered quietly sang a collective "Ooooohhhh."

Tucker sized up the expectant crowd, decided they couldn't win, and pulled them outside even though class was about to start.

"Guys," Tucker started, looking at them both. Danny still looked numb, while Sam was on the verge of tears now. She was breathing heavily from her sudden outburst.

Sam glanced at Tucker, then took a long look at Danny's face. She took a shuddering breath and threw herself at Danny, sobbing into his chest. Danny momentarily unfroze to reach around her awkwardly and embrace her. "I'm sorry, Danny, I'm sorry," Sam cried into his shirt. Danny glared at Tucker over her head, daring him to say something.

Tucker looked away, his expression serious for once.

Danny pulled her closer, trembling. "It's okay..."

"You know how much I hate Paulina, I just...didn't ever want to see her and you...that's what I meant by sick and wrong...not you yourself...ever...'cuz you're not..."

Danny chanced to look up and see Tucker watching them expressionlessly. _Awkward girl moment,_ Danny mouthed at Tucker. Tucker's mouth raised in a slight smirk. He tapped his watch.

Danny got the message, but hated to break off the hug. Well, maybe it was time. He patted her back, and even ran his fingers through her hair once, and held her hands so she looked up at him. He looked into her eyes and said seriously once again, "It's okay. Really. I understand." A pause. "Okay, let's go."

"Ugh, this is so out-of-character for me," Sam said, her voice cracking, and wiping her eyes so that her mascara smeared everywhere. "Must be all the stress." She laughed weakly. "You guys go ahead, I'm going to fix my makeup."

As it turned out, Danny and Tucker weren't late, but Sam was. After fully ten minutes, she came in late, avoiding all eye contact.

A note from Tucker landed on Danny's desk. He opened it carefully, hoping to avoid Mr. Lancer's notice.

_You better still not like Paulina now._

He glanced at Tucker, who gave him a meaningful look. He lowered his gaze to the paper.

_Of course not...I was over her a long time ago. Seriously. _

Tucker read it twice, and raised an eyebrow at him. _Yeah, right,_ he mouthed. He threw the paper back at Danny in disbelief.

Danny shrugged, grinned, and wrote some more.

_I'll prove it! And I have a plan. It's called ...Operation Disillusionment._

Tucker smirked as he composed a reply.

_Ahaha, that's a big word for you, Mr. **C** Student. What's Disillusionment supposed to do?_

Danny only smiled. Paulina would absolutely hate him after this, but Sam would be in heaven.

* * *

_Next chapter...monday probably, it's half done right now.  
Do you think Sam was capable of that? feel free to say so, or no. I accidentally started writing a bunch of angst for Sam's thoughts after the fight (don't worry, I cut it out of chapter five, maybe it will be some sort of oneshot, but I doubt it. More like a scrap on dA.) :D_


	5. Fangirl's Delight

_1419 words, and this chapter STILL doesn't get to my favorite part. I apologize.  
Thanks for reading/reviewing/favoriting/alerting! XD _

* * *

The unpopular population of the school looked on Sam with a degree of awe that day, but she was too distraught to notice. All she could think about her fight with Paulina. Thanks to her friends' intervention, it was practically a forfeit.

"You okay, Sam?" Tucker asked after the last class, observing Sam's cloudy face (with a chance of thunderstorms).

"Of course not," Sam and Danny said together. "Duh," Danny added, sounding slightly nervous.

"Don't worry," Tucker began to grin, unable to keep the secret. "Danny's going to get back at her for ya!" He winked.

Danny looked trapped for a moment, his eyes darting left and right; anywhere but Sam's eyes. "Mmhmm, what he said."

"Yep, he's going to – Danny, what ARE you going to do that is going to make Paulina so ... _disillusioned_?"

Sam watched them both suspiciously with narrowed eyes.

"You'll see..." Danny mumbled, leaning against the row of lockers, now working his hands in his pockets as if searching for lint.

"When...is this happening?" Sam said finally. She had a quietly disturbed look on her face as she picked at her black nail polish like she didn't care about the conversation topic.

"Sam," Danny said, softening, and slipping his hands out of his pockets, "don't worry, she's definitely going to hate the ghost boy for all eternity, after I do this...one thing. And I promise you, if you watch the news in the next week, you're going to understand."

"The news?" Tucker gaped. "Dude, as your official best friend, I demand you tell me what you're planning. It's _gotta_ be seriously crazy."

Danny only shook his head and smiled mysteriously.

Tucker stuck out his lower lip at him in a mock-pout, and knew he wouldn't be able to get any more out of him.

The media obsession over the ghost boy and Sam had rather died down by Friday, as Sam refused any and all interviews, and the ghost boy hadn't been seen in almost a week for lack of ghost attacks.

But the ghost boy himself was about to start another slew of gossip. You'd think he wouldn't make the same mistake twice. But he'd mentally finalized his plan, and there would be no going back.

His first step would be to...visit Paulina.

Danny Fenton stood in his room and took a deep breath, about to go ghost and begin the plan. He felt fit, excited, and...mischievous, as if it was going to all be a big April Fool's joke. His phone rang, and he picked up.

"Hey, Danny."

"Hey, Sam. What's up?"

"The ceiling, silly. Got plans? Tucker wants to watch a movie at my house. Again."

Danny cracked a wry grin. "I do have plans. And I have to leave – right now!"

"What, a ghost?" Sam asked.

"One word. Disillusionment." Danny laughed before hanging up. She'd understand.

"Going ghost!" Danny said, triggering the transformation. Fenton became Phantom, and Danny Phantom flew out of the window, flying as the crow flies to Paulina's house.

He'd been here once before, and he shuddered to think of it now. Her dad was a scary, scary man. To match, it was a stately, forbidding abode. He flew a slow circle around the second floor, where Paulina's room must be. One of the window blinds was pink, and he heard pop music inside. He landed softly on the windowsill and called her name.

"Hey, Paulina...it's...the ghost boy!"

It sounded stupid, but it should do the trick.

"Ghost boy? Really? Ohhhh!" he heard a gasp of delight. "Can you stay there just a teensy eensy bit more? I have to finish painting my pinky toenail pink! I love pink on pinky toenails, don't you?"

Danny rolled his eyes, thinking of Sam, whose mortal enemy seemed to be all things pink.

"No problem," he assured her through the pink blinds. She hadn't opened them yet. _This better be worth it._ His task seemed more daunting by the second, and he wondered briefly exactly why he was sitting on his fangirl's windowsill, like a fly in the perfect position to be eaten by a frog.

The blinds were pulled up out of view with violent force, and Paulina, who had been giving herself a makeover, manicure, and pedicure all in one, was beaming at him. She had on white sweatpants and a pink crop top, and was barefoot. "You came at the right time, ghost boy," she cooed, "now I'm all pretty, just for you!" She extended a dainty hand towards him, as if he were a furry dog to be petted.

Danny shrank back from her touch. "That's...great!" Paulina seemed to only want to gaze at him forever and ever. It was beginning to get unnerving. _I'm starting to get why Sam hates her so much – and is so jealous..._

Finally, he resigned himself to hovering in the air beyond her window, beyond her sharp-nailed reach, and steeled himself for his next move.

"Paulina, would you like to fly with me?"

He clenched his teeth and smiled all the same, feeling like he'd asked someone out on a date. This was the ghost boy's reputation he was ruining! But just like he thought she would, she took the bait.

"Ooooohhhh yes, ghost boy!" she squealed.

"Umm, call me...Danny Phantom."

"Okay, Danny Phantom! Ooh that sounds weird, there's this total loser that you always show up around, and his name is Danny too! But that's okay, because you're not him!"

Danny lifted his eyes to the sky in silent thanks. The one good thing about this town was that everybody was so _stupid_.

On with the plan. "Before we go, don't you think we should alert the newspaper so, uh, we can get our picture in the paper or something?" he hinted, examining his white-gloved fingertips and trying not to smile too big. This was his second lure, and it was an alluring lure at that.

"Ghost boy, I mean Danny, that is such a good idea!" She seized his foot and pulled him inside, and closed the window, as if afraid he might escape. "You wait here!" she commanded, and ran down the stairs. "Papá! Papá!"

Hook, line, and sinker, to use a cliché.

Danny examined his pink-tinged surroundings warily. There were a pile of Beanie Babies in a corner, mostly the kitten and puppy type, pillows, a beanbag chair, and a collection of CD's. He couldn't see anything Sam would like except the Dumpty Humpty poster on the wall. But then he spotted a ghost boy shrine in another corner. He floated over for a better look.

Wow. Newspaper articles, pictures, unmailed letters (no one knew where the ghost boy lived), drawings, phrases like "Mrs. Ghost Boy" written all over the inside of the shrine, which used to be a doll closet, an unlit white candle with his symbol crudely scratched and inked black into the wax, and a piece of rubble with the caption "Blasted by the ghost boy in a fight". Danny thought it couldn't get any worse until he found a small bag, labeled "Lock of Ghost Boy's Hair". How in the world could she have gotten that?

A lock of hair...it felt like déjà vu. Danny searched his mind for references, then blushed. He had his own shrine to someone...to none other than Sam Manson herself, and he had a lock of hair from her. "I forgive you, Paulina," he mumbled.

He straightened up and saw Paulina was bounding up the stairs with enthusiasm. Unexpectedly, she tackled him in a hug onto the floor. Okay, she was getting _really_ annoying, and they hadn't even started. "Hi," he croaked.

"Hi," she said adoringly, not moving.

He sighed and phased himself out of the rather clingy situation, then picked her up in his arms. "Um, is everything ready?" he said awkwardly, looking down at her, feeling a little strange because he was actually holding a former crush without a trace of positive feelings for her.

"Of course, Danny, my papá has everything arranged!" she laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly.

A featherweight with an iron grip. That's new. At least he had the power of intangibility in case of strangulation when certain nasty parts of his plot came into play.

"Okay, Paulina," Danny said wearily. It was time to go. He knew he'd enjoy it once they were out of her room.

Concentrating, he turned them intangible, phasing through the window, and took to the open air.

* * *

_Next time: the "nasty parts of his plot"? Hopefully my next update will be Thursday/Friday. (Every three or four days!)_


	6. Fateful Mistake 1

_1504 words :D chapters are getting longer!  
So, uh, I realized Danny in particular will switch moods really fast (like last chapter, with Paulina). haha._

next update monday or so. you waited four days instead of three for this one XD 

_thanks to everyone who reads this, it makes me happy :D_

* * *

A very confused Sam hung up slowly after her brief exchange with Danny. "Disillusionment?" she wondered out loud. That plan that he'd hinted out about last week? She began to pace her room to help her think. "Paulina...disillusioned...ghost boy...news. Something about hating the ghost boy...and just how is that boy going to make Paulina of all people hate him?" Sam mumbled.

Meanwhile, Danny and Paulina were flying high above the city of Amity Park. Danny had grown tired of holding Paulina bridal-style (not physically; mentally and emotionally), so he switched to merely holding on to her wrist – the least contact he could have with her to keep her flying and happy. Paulina's response was to grip his gloved wrist and smile dreamily up at him.

He couldn't help but remember the way Sam had looked at him the day Ember made her debut. Paulina was a poor substitute for Sam now, he thought, turning away from Paulina and instead scanning the streets below for news trucks, starting to grin as he did so.

There were plenty, with some already aiming cameras at them. Paulina squealed in glee. "Look, Danny," she said happily in her lilting accent, "this is so much better publicity for you! And me! I want everyone to know the ghost boy isn't bad!"

"Thanks, Paulina," Danny said gratefully and truthfully, squeezing her wrist. The better image he had, the better – except, he realized with a shiver, he was about to throw that down the drain.

Payback for Sam – or his current approval rates?

He soared higher and faster and imagined Sam's face when she saw his plan in action, and then imagined his approval rates dropping from 70 to barely 4. He chose Sam. It would be worth it: Sam might never get over the fight, but people's minds could always be changed!

Maybe.

Danny gave up trying to think through it: second thoughts were not appreciated at this stage of the deal.

"Hey, Paulina, do you like roller coasters?"

"No, ghost boy, I don't!"

He flew even faster, at top speed now, so the wind drowned out anything she might be saying.

"WHAT?" he screamed, pretending he hadn't heard before he had sped up. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU! BUT HEY! EVERYONE LOVES ROLLER COASTERS!"

If she didn't like them, then all the better!

"NOOOO!!!" she wailed, her high-pitched scream torn away from her by the wind.

"HERE WE GO!" Danny yelled, clearly enjoying himself, spreading both arms out wide, and keeping a very tight grip on her wrist.

Perfect – they were right above a street with a prominent news-truck. He dove a few hundred feet straight down, and then some, executed a very tight u-turn. and shot up vertically. The width of his parabola couldn't have been more than 15 feet.

"WHOOOHOO!" Danny laughed, hovering and swinging Paulina around him in dizzy circles by both wrists, high above the street.

Ever since Paulina had cried "NOOOO!!!", she'd squeezed her eyes shut tried not to breathe. The ghost boy was not supposed to do this to her! But no, it was his beautiful voice, his lovely laugh – and he was toying with her every which way like a yoyo on a string – the string being his unbreakable grip on her wrists.

He stopped abruptly, and Paulina felt like she was going to die as she dangled in the air. Her wrist hurt, her stomach was writhing, and she was getting a headache and was freezing all over from the wind and open air.

In a now-unexpected show of gentlemanliness, he gently set her down on the roof of a building and released his grip. Paulina fell to her knees, trying not to barf as she massaged her wrist. She inhaled and exhaled very slowly to calm her churning insides, and she would have succeeded too, had Danny not kindly patted her back at that moment. That was all the invitation her lunch needed to come back up out of her mouth. She doubled over, eyes streaming. Danny winced. He'd only meant to scare her out of her wits, not to make her sick like this!

"Paulina...?" he tried hesitantly, looking down at the floor (the roof), as she coughed and spat to rid her mouth of the taste.

She lifted her head to glare at Danny, and it was positively venomous. She swiped a hand across her mouth and said, "Go away."

"But, don't you want to get off this building first?"

Her eyes narrowed to slits, looking like a feral animal. "I'm going to get that red-suited ghost hunter to kill you and shred you, molecule by molecule."

Danny nearly giggled. "Like she doesn't want to already..." he cracked. Then his eyes widened and he backed up. Paulina had stood up and was advancing slowly towards him, a growl originating deep in her throat.

Danny was on the edge of the roof now. "You really hate me, don't you?" he asked one last time to make sure. "Really really?"

"I hope you DIE, _Danny Phantom_!" she said with all the childish temper she could muster.

"I'm already dead!" Danny smiled amusedly, stepping backwards into midair gracefully.

Paulina noticed just in time she was at the edge of the roof and screamed in frustration.

Danny flew slowly backwards, watching Paulina's dilemma unfold. When he was nearly to the other side of the street, she seemed to wake from her rage and realized she was stranded.

"GHOST BOY! You're supposed to be good! Get me off here!"

At this, the Phantom's hero complex clashed with his intense fear of her sharp, pink fingernails. "I..." he said in a small voice.

Paulina swayed and wavered on the roof's edge, feeling nauseated again at the sight that awaited her just a step away. She couldn't take heights at all. She fell forward into space in a dead faint.

Danny simply stared for a split second, then shot off like a bullet down to catch her. He caught her with time to spare, then looked around wildly on the ground for someone to hand her off to.

Of all people, it was Valerie the ghost hunter that approached him first. She flew from the sky like a meteor and landed in front of Danny. "Oh my gosh, Paulina! And the ghost kid. What did you do to her?" she asked in a menacing tone.

"I – nothing! Do you want her? I don't..." Danny said, flustered.

"Neither do I. That little creep." Contrary to what she had just said, Valerie snatched Paulina out of his arms and set her, head lolling, on her sled. "Something tells me I should shoot you first and deal with Paulina first, but..."

Valerie's eyes, inside her suit, betrayed confusion and uncertainty. She said nothing more, but kept a hand on Paulina to steady her as she flew off, without looking back.

He watched her go, squinting at her, wishing yet unable to fathom the girl's mind. Suddenly he felt quite exposed just standing there on the street. People were beginning to arrive and stare in curiosity. He vanished abruptly, and the people gasped slightly.

He wondered how much the cameras had gotten, and what would show up in the news in just a few hours or so. He phased through his wall, still invisible, and de-transformed on his bed. What would Sam think when she saw this?

Sam, as a matter of fact, hadn't seen anything from her window. She'd heard some screams, some whoops of laughter that sounded strangely like Danny in a good mood, and then nothing. Maybe it was her location – the incident must be taking place on a different street. She sighed. All the clues were making her very curious. Screams, whoops, Paulina, Danny Phantom, and _disillusionment_! She folded her arms on the windowsill, staring at nothing in particular.

Her laptop pinged, notifying her of an instant message from Tucker. She answered it dutifully.

**Tuckyeah:** did you hear that? Screams and stuff.

**Urrgoth:** Yeah. was it Danny? Couldn't see.

**Tuckyeah:** Me neither. but hey. Didn't he say it'd be on the news?

**Urrgoth:** omg. you're right. brb.

Sam jumped up and turned on the TV. "Newsflash!" the announcer said. "New sighting of Danny Phantom and his amazing rescue of a suicidal girl!"

Not taking her eyes off the screen, she tracked back to her laptop and typed hurriedly.

**Urrgoth:** Tuck, channel 7 NOW.

A brief pause, then Tuck typed back a string of gibberish, indicating his surprise.

However, after a minute or two they realized it was only a teaser. The big news would come at six. Just like the news story that started it all!

Sam sighed exasperatedly in annoyance. This had only tickled her curiosity to an unbearable level. She fell backwards, expecting to surrender to the pillows she knew would catch her head, but instead her head met the lap of a grinning ghost.

Sam suppressed a scream, but not a shiver, and looked up.

Danny Phantom smiled warmly.

"Boo."


	7. Fateful Mistake 2

_1076 words. It's shorter this time. Sorryyy!! It seemed like a good place to end and I wrote this kind of fast, because I'm behind schedule. Updates should now take anywhere from 3 days to a week, just so you know. I think I've found someone special. Well yeah duh everyone's special..._

_anyone else think Tucker's username is sort of...sketchy? Eheheheh._

_80 reviews for chapters 1-6! I can't thank you guys enough. Much love, hope this one doesn't pull down the quality overall._

* * *

As Sam stared up into his eyes, Danny changed back, his eyes shifting from green to blue. Sam was captivated. The way he transformed never ceased to amaze her. Then she remembered where her head was and quickly sat up, facing Danny.

"What are you trying to do?" cried Sam, motioning to the TV behind her. "Did you see that? You – you –"

Danny put on an innocent face, but worry showed through. "Do what? What did I do?"

Sam whirled around, praying the teaser would play again, but it was only an ad for shampoo. She faced front again. "You were on the news!"

"Like I said I would." Danny favored her with a winning smile, relieved it was going well so far.

"And it said you saved a suicidal girl – and – there would be more at six." Sam watched his face carefully for a reaction.

Danny ducked his head and played with one of the pillows he was sitting on. "Umm...no worries?" He stared at his frayed jeans and lowered his voice to a mutter. "Though she certainly wasn't suicidal...homicidal, maybe..."

"And just who are you talking about?"

"P – the suicidal girl I supposedly saved?"

They were suddenly both silent, trying to work out what had happened.

He lifted his head and caught her eye. "Whatever. This wasn't exactly the thing I'd planned for you to see, but it's good enough...better than I thought. It's killing two birds with one stone. If...you know what I mean. I think you'll understand." He smiled.

Sam cocked an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "I'll see it to believe it. Six o'clock's the word. An hour and a half to go."

Danny shifted on the bed, stretching out his legs. "That might not give the best explanation. You'd either have to ask me or Pauli—"

Sam gasped, just as Danny realized his slip-up. "That girl was Paulina?" a pause. "She's suicidal?"

"Argh!" He slapped his forehead. He changed ghost and flew around her room in tight, agitated circles. A ghost's version of pacing.

"You're making me dizzy," complained Sam.

Danny stopped abruptly. "I'll...be back." He flew out her window into the air, taking care to make himself invisible. He needed to sort this all out. Shooting back to his house and into his room, he laid on his bed and de-transformed again.

_Tucker knows nothing yet, unless he watched the news. In that case, he will have the same questions as Sam. Except Tucker doesn't know the girl was Paulina. Would Tucker or Sam be more confused?_

He didn't get to finish thinking. Someone heavy pounded up the stairs. That would be his dad. His door burst open. His dad, clad in his perpetual orange jumpsuit, blocked the doorway while his more petite mom and sister poked their heads out from beneath his arms.

"Did you see that, son? The ghost boy saved a suicidal girl! Isn't that something?" Jack Fenton grinned widely.

"So, uh, dad, don't you think the ghost boy is good, then? I mean, because, he saved her...and everything?" Jazz, Danny's sister, suggested tentatively.

Jack seemed to deliberate. "Well, are they sure it was the ghost kid?"

Maddie, Jack's husband, cut in. "Ghosts can't be good!"

"But this one saved –"

"I believe in absolutes!"

Jazz rolled her eyes. "Maybe this one isn't, Mom. Give him a chance! Watch the news at six! You'll see!"

She hoped desperately it was true – that there would be actual footage of the rescue. Best of all would be a spectacular catch in mid-fall...

Sam was on her laptop again, IMing Tucker. Tucker had managed to get alerts on news articles about Danny Phantom sent straight to his PDA, so he knew something was up too. Sam shared the tip that the "suicidal girl" was Paulina.

**Tuckyeah**: Personally, I think Danny was the cause of her derangement.

**Urrgoth**: Umm, danny p. is her idol.

**Tuckyeah**: Well, she's certainly stupid enough to jump off a building, danny or no danny.

When Jazz had herded their parents out of Danny's room, she stayed behind. "Danny, what's this about you on the news?" she said worriedly.

Danny eyed his sister. She was smart, understanding – so she said. And she was, usually.

"Um. I decided to get rid of my...fangirl. Paulina. She totally adores my ghost self!" he threw his hands up in the air. "And Sam was getting jealous, so I decided to _disillusion_ Paulina by freaking her out by flying with her. Y'know, loops and twists and turns so tight I'd miss her by a hair. That would freak anyone out."

Danny sighed and flopped onto the bed beside his sister, who was frowning slightly.

"But apparently Paulina can't take roller coaster rides so I had to put her down on top of a building, and she ...barfed, and now she hates me."

"So isn't that what you were trying to do?" asked Jazz, giving him a funny look.

"Yeah...but I never meant to make her sick like that. Also, she was so crazy-mad that she tried to walk off the building after me. She stopped at the edge – I guess she has a fear of heights or something – and she just fainted and fell off the edge. I caught her.

"There was an news truck down there, on the street below. I'd prepared that, with Paulina's help, beforehand. She wanted to be on the news with the ghost boy. She was so excited..." he added as an afterthought.

His eyes widened in sudden understanding. "And now I wonder...exactly how much they saw."

Jazz saw the same possibility. "No way. They didn't get the first part on tape? How could they?"

Danny laughed. "Maybe we went too early and they weren't done setting up. I thought I was ruining what little good reputation I had left, but this beats all. Paulina hates me, and my ratings go up!" Danny grinned evilly and bounced up into a sitting position. "I totally didn't plan this."

"Good thinking, little brother," said Jazz as she gave him a high-five. Both of them grinned like idiots. "I can't wait for six o'clock."

"Hey...do you think I should explain what happened to Sam and Tucker?"

"Why don't you bring them over and watch it with them, and kind of explain afterwards."

"Sure thing." He flashed her one last smile before going ghost and flying out: as always, invisible.


	8. Hospital Torture

_Another shortish chapter. Some have asked why I named the last chapter "Fateful Mistake 2"...I don't really know, maybe because Danny accidentally told Sam who the girl was, which didn't turn out to be such a big deal after all. Also, someone has suggested longer chapters. I would love to do that -- but I kinda want to keep the same length -- oh well, I'll try and make them closer to four full pages._

_Okay, this one is kind of a filler chapter, basically giving a humorous view of poor Paulina. Meh. _

_Well, okay, I need to go. Thanks for all the support! _

* * *

Instead of brining Sam and Tucker to Fentonworks, Danny decided to hang out at Tucker's house, bringing Sam along for the big show.

Tucker's room was dark and warm from many humming pieces of hardware. There was his bed in one corner, a stack of geeky paperbacks in another corner, a small desk, random clutter, and at least two computers (and parts of more). There were also some servers on a large, many-storied shelf, and assorted gadgets littered the rest. A dusty TV sat in the last unoccupied corner, and this Tucker turned on and set to the correct channel.

"Now you know why I always want to go to your houses and not mine," commented Tucker, surveying his room with a mixture of pride and disgust.

They all sat down on the bed and watched.

"Hello, and good evening. I'm Krista Johnson for the six o'clock news. Today we have another sighting of Danny Phantom, the town ghost! Via a tip from a helpful citizen, our reporters captured this amazing video!"

The screen cut to the video itself. Danny was hovering near the edge of a rooftop, with his back (and bottom) to the camera. In front of him could barely be seen a figure with a pink top and white pants, who advanced steadily until Danny backed up beyond the edge. The figure, now recognizable as a girl with wavy black hair, teetered on the edge and simply fell forward. In the blink of an eye, Danny had swooped beneath her and caught her neatly, then flew around a corner out of sight.

Sam burst out laughing. "That's not suicidal, that's chronic stupidity."

Tucker shushed her, watching intently.

"The girl you just saw, who was saved by Danny Phantom, has been identified as Paulina Sanchez. She was taken to the hospital by the Red Huntress and is resting in good condition. She is also undergoing psychological evaluation for her apparent suicide attempt. Debate is under way on whether a ghost should be able to receive a Good Citizen Award!

"Well, wasn't that sweet," said Krista, smiling. "Moving on to local businesses..."

Tucker turned it off and started Googling the event in hopes of better information.

Sam had been shuddering in silent laughter all through the whole thing. "That was awesome! Psychological...evaluation..." Sam choked out, clearly pleased.

Danny smiled at her. "I bet she's furious right now."

Tucker looked up and gave him an inquiring look. "If this was the plan, then it was a great one. But if you flew her to the roof of that building, why would she suddenly walk off the edge?"

"Umm..." Danny scratched his head, looking guilty. "I'm...irresistible? To _die_ for?"

Sam let out a snort of disbelief. Tucker stuck out a hand and bent it at the wrist while saying "Pshh" in imitation of Gregor. "_Yeah, right._ Now tell the truth."

"You're too smart, Tuck," he said. A pause, as Sam frowned at him and Tucker gave him a smirk. "You really want to know?"

Two heads nodded yes.

"All right, but it's a long story..."

* * *

She opened her eyes to a white and disinfected ceiling.

"Uhhhnnggg...where _am _I?" Paulina murmured softly. She noticed white sheets and a white wall, and a white floor. A hospital? Her eyes opened wider as a small team of doctors and nurses approached her. She clutched the sheets, apprehensive.

"Hello, Paulina, are you feeling all right? We're here to help," said a nurse.

No answer. Paulina stared back at them, trying to remember what happened.

The nurse seemed to read her mind. "You were on top of a building, dear, and you walked off of it." One of the doctors looked scandalized by this. "This isn't the time to talk about this, Margie!"

"I want to know," said Paulina softly, then again, louder. "I want to know what happened!"

The doctor that had scolded Margie looked at her with pity. "Danny Phantom saved you. There's nothing to fret about," he said calmly and slowly.

"Danny Phantom?" asked Paulina, her first reaction of wonder and joy, but it turned too quickly to anger. "Danny Phantom!" she growled, remembering how she had gotten on the building.

"Is something wrong?" Margie asked.

Paulina sat up straight in bed, incensed. "YES!" she screeched. "I hate him! I hate him I hate him I hate him! I'm going to get him, and...I'm going to...scratch his eyes out!" she mimed the action. She glared at the doctors surrounding her and looked every one in the eye.

Unfortunately, all the doctors saw something different glinting in her mad eyes. Something more serious then a teenage girl's grudge.

"More bedrest, I think," one prescribed.

Another was worried. "We found traces of vomit in her mouth. A combination of bulimia

and depression is a very serious matter. Two very serious and very real disorders. She may need counseling and therapy, the usual treatment," she whispered.

"Or she could have something else entirely. ODD, I think?"

"No...you've got it all wrong...go back to your gastronomical studies, Mel, will you?"

"Kids these days. They're crazy."

"She could be maniacally depressed."

"Bipolar."

"Maybe just overtired."

"Has she done something illegal? Order a blood test."

"She fainted somewhere between falling and rescue. Would that signify something more?"

"Aww, all of you, stop freaking her out."

Paulina _was_ freaked out. They were speaking in whispers, but every so often she caught words like "serious", "therapy", "treatment", and "maniacally". These people thought she was crazy! "Stop it!" she commanded. "Stop talking like I'm not here!"

The doctors looked at her now with a mixture of pity and grief. "Obviously, this needs to be looked into more depth. And for heaven's sake, stop gossiping like that!" They left her room in a flurry of whispers. "Twenty years of medical school and you're acting like _teenagers_."

The room was silent again. Paulina shifted carefully under the sheets. She didn't feel very well at the moment. She closed her eyes to escape from the blinding whiteness, but the empty silence was shattered by a gravelly voice from the cot next to her.

"So you're finally awake!" the quavery voice said. "What's your name?"

Paulina forced open her eyelids and turned to see a liver-spotted, wrinkled old grandma.

Oh no. She knew what was coming. Whether she answered or not, inevitably she would be subjected to the lady's life story. So Paulina screamed her frustration in Spanish.

"¡AY CARAMBA!"

This only served to shut the woman up for about five seconds.

Paulina moaned. She hated Danny Phantom, she hated flying, she hated barfing, fainting, hospitals, doctors, nurses, white, and most of all, talkative old ladies. This was a nightmare, oh please, let it be a nightmare...


	9. Words Unsaid

When Danny finished his story with an awkward "Um, yeah, the end", there was a long silence. Tucker's machinery hummed contentedly in the background.

"So you think Paulina's in the hospital undergoing psychological evaluation right now, cursing you out," said Sam at last.

The phrasing gave him a guilty feeling, instead of a sense of satisfaction. It just didn't feel like something the town ghost hero was supposed to do. "I guess," he said, scratching his head.

Tucker listened, but couldn't stand it any more. He stood up. "I say we forget about it. Can't you wait till Monday and see the results?" He paused before leaving the room. "And um, I'm going to get something to drink, anyone want something?"

Danny and Sam rose at the same time. "Sure. We'll come."

The geek sighed at his friends. They were being so serious. It would be a long weekend.

Monday dawned rainy, cloudy, and generally gloomy. Jazz had to come into Danny's room several times to make sure he was awake so he wouldn't be late. He was too tired to appreciate her efforts, and the weather didn't make it any easier. He slipped on his usual t-shirt and jeans, and blearily ate breakfast courtesy of Jazz. She'd begun cooking more nowadays; not only was it good practice for later life, but it was also because their mom recently cooked up a batch of growling broccoli when she accidentally mixed something green and glowing from the lab into the food. A sisterly push from Jazz out the door and he was technically ready for school, though his mind was far from it.

Tucker and Sam met him at the bottom of his steps. Tucker grinned widely. "How are you so awake?" moaned Danny, squinting.

"Have you forgotten?" asked Tucker in surprise. "It's Paulina day! Crazy wacko psycho suicidal Paulina!" He twirled in a circle.

"Shut up." Sam, in her normal state of negativism, pulled Tucker's beret down his face, who nearly tripped.

"Oh. Oh yeah." Danny straightened up and walked faster, splashing in puddles without realizing.

The others matched his strides. "Remember, you're not that evil ghost boy that made her sick, you're just that loser kid who ... used to like her." Sam smiled affectionately, as if she already knew what was going on in his head.

"So no worries. You know nothing," Tucker assured him.

They were nearly to the school. "I worry," Danny said simply, as a sight reminiscent of last week greeted them. The crowd parted as a lone figure passed through: Paulina herself.

"_You know nothing!_" Tucker insisted in a whisper as she approached.

But it wasn't about Danny.

"You!" Paulina's eyes blazed, no longer looking beautiful, as anger spread over her features, turning them the opposite. All heads turned to the pending catfight.

"Me," Sam replied coolly, watching her carefully.

"Yes, you, can fly with the ghost boy all you want, you can keep him, because I don't want him. I hope Danny the loser here knows what you're keeping from him." She turned on Danny. "Aren't you jealous at all? Your girlfriend has another boyfriend that's a ghost!" Back to Sam. "And that _ghost_ asked to fly with me one day and played a dirty trick. You asked him to do that, didn't you? Because you hate me. Just because you can't be as popular as I am. You don't even try to conform!" she said this all in a rush.

"I don't want to conform!" Sam said. "And, I didn't ask _the ghost boy_ to do that. He did it on his own, because he likes me."

"How could he like you?"

Before Paulina could get another word in, Sam cut in. "How could he like _you_?"

Paulina looked insulted. "Why, because I'm pretty, pop—"

"We've been through this before. He doesn't like you, and those reasons don't matter. Not anymore."

"You know, Paulina, you're just proving you need help," Tucker said smoothly. Then in a different tone he added, "And I'm the one to give it! You heard what the doctors said." Sam stared at him incredulously.

Paulina looked suddenly fragile and indecisive. "Those doctors talked about all these long words I don't know the meaning of...maybe you could explain them to me?" she ended with a pleading face that seemed genuine.

Sam looked positively frightened. Paulina was talking to a geek with respect! Times had changed, social dynamics in particular.

The crowd around them murmured. Most looked interested and sympathetic, but a few hearts weren't melted yet. Blond football jock Dash watched the exchange with distaste.

Paulina stepped closer to Tucker as Danny and Sam backed up. "I'm so scared," she whispered almost inaudibly. Tucker caught her in his arms and instantly changed his tone again – authentic sympathy, and it wasn't an act. "There's no need to be. I'm here for you," he said quietly as he patted her back. Paulina was the very image of a broken girl. Tears leaked out of her eyes onto Tucker's shoulder as he continued to hold her sprawling form.

Danny and Sam instinctively clasped hands and moved closer together to hide the evidence. As Tucker and Paulina's drama unfolded before them, Danny asked a crucial question. "How did you guess I liked you?" he said to the ground and fidgeting.

Sam smiled at the mess of black hair on his head and squeezed his hand. "Girls just know. Also, it's the best thing in the world when a guy is willing to do that to his crush."

Danny laughed weakly and glanced at the beauty queen, who had come completely undone. "Her beauty doesn't go very deep. One frown and she needs botox to fix it. Hey, I was a guy then–"

"You still are," interrupted Sam with a giggle.

"—yeah, and guys see that first. So I'm shallow in my own way." He paused. "I know you don't like shallow people all that much," he said as he remembered the time Sam had turned into a dragon thanks to a magical amulet, "so, um, forgive me?" it took all his strength to look into her eyes for sincerity's sake.

"Of course," she smiled and pulled him into a tight hug.

Meanwhile, Paulina finally pulled herself off Tucker and recoiled as she realized what she'd done. It was like coming out of a trance.

"Ohmygosh. I touched the technogeek! Ew! I have cooties all over me now! Oh, you so totally did not see that!" The Latina was back to her usual preppy character. She swept the crowd with laser-like eyes. All eyes looked obediently away from the spectacle.

Tucker looked lost and hurt, like a puppy. "Paulina..." he said helplessly. He gave her a sad, pouty face, his arms open wide as to invite her back.

She looked at him with disgust reserved for such losers, but it softened when she saw his pouting face, so innocent and angelic. Tucker's hopes rose, and Paulina looked ready to apologize. But there was no more time for further communication. Star and Valerie, bound to old habits, had unfroze and pulled her away from the unpopular people with mutters of "stay away" and "what were you thinking?"

The last fleeting glimpse of her face was an unreadable expression, looking straight at Tucker, promising something, he didn't know what.

The crowd dispersed and entered the school as the bell rang. Tucker stared at the last of the students, and turned around to see his two friends, close together, hiding their held hands behind their backs.

"What are you two smiling about?" he said, obviously upset.

"Nothing at all," Sam replied, instantly concerned at the look on his face. Danny likewise corrected his facial expression.

"Tucker," Danny bowed his head, "I'm so sorry."

"She'll come to her senses. I know she will. I can help," Tucker said firmly. And for the first time Sam didn't feel like sighing deeply inside. For the first time, Tucker didn't sound like a total womanizer. For the first time, Tucker had shown some maturity.

Sam gave him an encouraging smile. "I know you can."

Danny glanced around the area inside the fence, which was the school property. It was void of people. "Let's go to class, we'll talk later..." His left hand was in Sam's right, so he put his right hand on Tucker's shoulder. Together they arrived at their first class. As they crossed from the hallway into the classroom, Danny slipped his hand out of Sam's and they all sat down quietly. Mr. Lancer didn't miss the subtle action.

"Danny, Sam, Tucker: You people are tardy. But I will make an exception this morning. It was about time you two—" here something in the tone of his voice and the direction of his gaze seemed to indicate he meant Danny and Sam—"came in here together like that anyway."

Danny and Sam glanced at each other with sheepish smiles, while Tucker ogled them with a puzzled frown.

"Foley, you're fine too. Let's begin."

Even though the introduction was out-of-the-ordinary, the class was the same level of dullness it had always been. Danny zoned out for a while, thinking about Sam and how he'd held her hand like that, (he smiled dreamily here) and then about Tucker and how he could make the whole thing with Paulina better. He had it now. It was pure genius. Nothing less was expected.

He ripped out a sheet of binder paper as quietly as he could and scribbled on it.

_Tuck. I have a plan for you and Paulina to get together. It should help Paulina break the mold and realize how much you care. It's called..._

_Operation **Illusionment**..._

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**Oh wow, I think this fanfic is now finished! The ending seems to promise a sequel, but I don't know if I want to do one. I actually don't have the pure genius, unlike Danny has, to concoct such a plan. given time though... :)**

Has anyone else not been getting review alerts/story alerts in their email? A friend and I tried PMing each other and neither of us got an email. Bleh, that was annoying.

Thank you all who read this story! Much love!

**What do you think? was the whole thing confusing? does there need to be more coverage of the media coverage of the whole fiasco? (I slacked off on that. I dislike the media.)**

**For more Danny-bored-in-class, i have a oneshot called Probability XD**

**Till next time!**


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